Father-Son Relationships in The Odyssey"Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant." This quote, stated by Epictetus, is an ideal depiction of the importance of father-son relationships in Homer’s ancient Greek epic, The Odyssey. The protagonist of The Odyssey, Odysseus, fights among the other Greek heroes at Troy and struggles to return to his kingdom in Ithaca where his loyal wife, Penelope, and his loving son, Telemachus await. Telemachus is an infant when Odysseus leaves for Troy, leaving him alone with his concerned mother and her arrogant suitors. In father-son relationships, both fathers and sons provide and learn from each other while also affecting those outside of the relationship, on both a figurative and literal level.

In this classic epic, a fatherly presence is important in transforming a young and ignorant boy into a well instructed man through life lessons and morals. When Athena, disguised as Mentor, asks Telemachus about his dad, “Young Telemachus cautiously replied, ‘Mother has always told me I’m his son, it’s true, but I am not so certain’ ” (84). With the absence of Odysseus in much of Telemachus’s early life, he lacks confidence, communication skills, and leadership. For example, Telemachus does not have enough courage and strength to rid the suitors from the palace by himself and fails to take control of the kingdom. However, had Odysseus been present in Telemachus’s childhood, Telemachus would have gained valuable lessons such as the importance of confidence and leadership and would have most likely rid the palace of the suitors. Pisistratus, King Nestor’s son, has accomplished many things in his lifetime and is a well respected leader, partly due to the guidance that King Nestor had provided to him. For example, Pisistratus is already the captain of armies and has accomplished many feats. This effective father-son relationship was possible...

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...Like Father, Like Son: The Evolution Of A Family Tie
Throughout the last few books of the Odyssey, Homer explains to the reader how Odysseus reestablishes his relationships with his family and friends of Ithaka. It’s possible the restoration of his relationship with his son, Telemachus, is the most significant event of all. This reconnection carries out three main purposes. First, it serves to characterize Telemachus' likeness to his father in the virtues of wisdom, humility, patience, and organization. Secondly, it enables Odysseus a chance to coach Telemachus on how to be a powerful ruler like he is. Lastly, Homer uses the reconnection to highlight the importance of a healthy family structure to a society. To be able to understand the impact this meeting had on Odysseus and Telemachus, it is essential to first look how Telemachus has matured since their last meeting when Telemachus was a newborn and Odysseus was a man (and how their relationship has changed from a man to child relationship to a man to man relationship). Their father-sonrelationship must be reestablished without any past history in a short amount of time, and they must complete/ “realize” Odysseus’ journey.
Of the abundant evidence of Telemachus' development, three are sufficient to render an accurate narration of what virtues he...

...relatioships between charcters in the stories we have studies one of them is Anil. in Anil the writer presents confilct in relationship between the father, Appa, and the son, Anil. Anil is very uncomfortable and scared with his father, we know this because in the story it says " his father was a burly man, a bully to his family" this explains that the relationship between the father and theson is unsual and unsafe. the word "Bully" is used to show negativity and the harmful relationship between Anil and Father.
Through the description the relationship between the characters, presents Anil’s father, Appa, as an abusive bully in his domestic environment, but a coward in the presence of the headman. “a timid mouse to the headman” – this presents a different relationship in the story where Appa is weaker in front of the head man. but becomes abuser and dangerous man in his family specailly with his wife, we know this because in the story it says " Anil saw the bruise on her shoulder, where Appa, returning home drunk last night, had hit her". this shows the violence relationship between the mother and the father, which totally shows no love and no respect.
However, Anil's father shows lot of love and care for Anil at the end of the story, he say "you...

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THE FATHER-SONRELATIONSHIP
In family life, there is often a lack of communication between parents and their children. Although parental love is always present, children often misunderstand or are unaware of their parent's love for them, especially the father’s love. Fathers often try to keep their strong figure as the head of the households and their love is usually implicit. The three short stories, “Penny in the Dust,” by Ernest Buckler, “A Secret Lost in the Water,” by Roch Carrier and “Lies My Father Told Me,” by Ted Allan all share a similar theme – relationship between fathers and sons. The father-sonrelationship portrayed in each of these three stories is awkward and distant which prevents the characters from entering into the other’s world and thought. The three stories’ settings take place in Canadian rural regions in the 1920’s and feature relationship between little boys and their farmer fathers.
In the first story, “Penny in the Dust”, Peter is a young boy who comes back home for the funeral of his father. He and his sister recall the event when the family thought Peter was lost while he was hiding in his room because he lost the shining penny his father had given him. Peter remembers the time when his father and he...

...﻿Father and SonRelationships
One can arguably say that a good father should have qualities such as being affectionate, a role model, and empathetic in order to successfully raise a son. Khaled Hosseini suggests in the novel The Kite Runner that although Baba occasionally displayed some of these qualities, the overall lack of an empathetic father figure can result in challenges throughout one’s life. This is shown through Amir, the main character, who feels neglected by his father, Baba, which follows Amir throughout his life.
Initially, Amir is desperate for Baba’s approval due to Baba’s lack of empathy and willingness to accept Amir. “Most days I worshiped Baba with an intensity approaching the religious.” (Page 32) Amir’s desperation to win over Baba’s approval drives most of his actions throughout his childhood. But even from the start, “If [Baba] hadn’t seen the doctor pull [Amir] out of [his] wife with [his] own eyes, [Baba would] never believe [Amir is Baba’s] son.” (Page 23) Baba expected Amir to become like himself - athletic, brave, and able to stand up for himself and what is right. But when Amir shows cowardice and takes a literary interest, Baba feels no emotion bond with his son, which makes him distant to Amir. Amir feels that Baba is withdrawn from him which makes Amir want Baba’s approval. Amir attempts to achieve it by...

...In many literary works, family relationships are the key to the plot. Through a family's interaction with one another, the reader is able decipher the conflicts of the story. Within a literary family, various characters play different roles in each other's lives. These are usually people that are emotionally and physically connected in one way or another. They can be brother and sister, mother and daughter, or in this case, father and son. In the Arthur Miller's novel, Death of A Salesman, the interaction between Willy Loman and his sons, Happy and Biff, allows Miller to comment on father-sonrelationships and the conflicts that arise from them.
During most father-sonrelationships, there are certain times where the father wants to become more of a "player" in his son's life than his son believes is necessary. The reasons for this are numerous and can be demonstrated in different ways. Miller is able to give an example of this behavior through the actions of Willy Loman. When Biff comes home to recollect himself, Willy perceives it as failure. Since Willy desperately wants his oldest son, Biff, to succeed in every way possible, he tries to take matters into his own hands. "I'll get him a job selling. He could be big in no time" (16). The reason that Biff came home is to find out what he...

... 1
Relationship: From Night to Day (Rough Draft)
In the short but gripping memoir named “Night,” author Elie (Eliezer) Wiesel deeply reflects on his experiences in various concentration camps with his father during the Holocaust. Before the Jews were shipped off to incessant fear and starvation, Elie’s father didn’t have a significant relationship with his family, particularly Elie. After they were shipped away and got separated from the females in their family, however, Elie and his father became close and by the end of the book, they were each others’ strength. “Night” shows a distinct change of relationship between Elie and his father: it goes from a felt obligation to more of an emotional attachment because of the circumstances they endured together during the Holocaust.
In the beginning of “Night” Elie is very interested in religion: he wants to study the Kabbalah. When he tells his father about this on page 4, his father does not encourage him to study. Instead he says, a bit condescendingly it seems, “You are too young for that. Maimonides tells us that one must be thirty before venturing into the world of mysticism, a world fraught with peril. First you must study the basic subjects, those you are able to comprehend.” Elie proceeds to say that his father “wanted to driver the idea of studying...

...family dynamics. The stories and poems usually focus on relationships within the family structure at a turning point in one of the central "character's" lives. Some stories focus on a strong and positive maternal or fraternal central character with an offspring who lacks focus or is unappreciative of his family and other stories centralize the younger generation and the impact that their parents actions or inactions have on them. In particular, strongrelationships between fathers and sons sometimes cause conflict and grief, as depicted in "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke, "Barn Burning" by William Faulkner, and "Killings" by Andre Dubus.
To begin, the title of "My Papa's Waltz", written by Theodore Roethke, allows for the assumption that the poem will be about some form of dance between father and son. Once read, it can be analyzed that it is a dance of equal amounts of a young son's embarrassed adoration and fear for his father who is a drunken gardener. The poem opens with: "The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy." (Roethke 754). The opening lines construe that the condition of his father could intimidate or cause fear in most young children but the young son loved his father even with his problems and was willing to navigate the troubled path with him in...

...Doer
AP Language
August 1, 2013
Angela’s Ashes Prompt #7
One of the strongest things in this world is the love that forms between a father and his son. Many boys grow up with the desire to be just like their fathers but for Frank McCourt having an alcoholic father causes him to grow up with the mentality of being the opposite of him. In Angela’s Ashes the interesting relationship between Frank and Malachy creates positive and negative impacts on Frank’s life. At times, Frank despised his father for drinking the dole money but he knew that in the morning he would have his father to himself. Sitting on his father’s lap and hearing stories about Cuchulain was what made Frank feel loved. Although Malachy managed to make his son feel special, the sufferings that were caused by him made negative impacts on Frank’s life.
One of the positive impacts that Malachy created for Frank was the Cuchulain story. Cuchulain symbolized Malachy’s fatherly side which only happened when he was sober. Cuchulain was something that Frank shared with his father which made it extremely special for him. He hold on to the memories he spend with his father and no matter how mad Frank was at Malachy he knew that the best thing to do was hold his anger in and not put their relationship in danger, “My...

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